Commiserate

Yes, it looks like that the Republicans got a trifecta the presidency and Congress (The House vote is still in process but is leaning Republican).

So now we have to work on the back court game. Blocking legislation action, working with the state legislatures, and challenging every law in court.

And I will predict this… Vance will be president before the four terms are up. That Trump will either step down and let Vance to be president to finish is term, or the old man will die in office. I think that is the Republican long game, Vance is under the wings of billionaire Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder and I think that is the payoff for supporting Trump.

You are going to see me say that more often… "Ne permittas bastardus te deprimere" This is my new motto.

And here you thought I wouldn't be through writing about politics any more!

Don't forget that we will now have a trans woman sitting on the floor of the House! Sarah McBride won her election! And...

Trans politician Zooey Zephyr trounces GOP opponent as she’s re-elected to Montana state house

Montana Democrat, and the state’s first transgender representative, Zooey Zephyr, has been re-elected.

Pink News

By Amelia Hansford

November 6, 2024

Zephyr has become an increasingly prominent voice for LGBTQ+ rights in Montana and across the US. She was famously censured in 2023 over her vocal opposition to an anti-trans law.

She polled 3,370 votes, while Republican candidate Barbara Starmer managed just 703. In a post on X/Twitter Zephyr said she was honoured by the result and vowed to continue her fight for progressive policies in what is known as Big Sky Country.

“I promise to do as I have always done,” she said. “Fight for my constituents, stand up against those who seek to break democracy and be a bulwark against the rising tide of American fascism.”

One last thought... just before Thanksgiving a Constitutional question could arise. What happens if on November 26 Judge Juan Merchan sentences Trump to five years in prison?

What happens to Trump’s criminal and civil cases now that he’s been reelected

CNN

By Devan Cole, Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell and Jeremy Herb

November 6, 2024

Donald Trump has been reelected to the White House as a convicted felon who is awaiting sentencing in his hush money case in New York and still working to stave off prosecution in other state and federal cases.

It’s an extraordinarily unique position for him to be in: Never before has a criminal defendant been elected to the nation’s highest office, just as an ex-president had never been criminally charged until last year.

[…]

 Should Merchan move ahead with sentencing, Trump could be ordered to serve as much as four years of prison time, but the judge is not required to sentence the president-elect to prison, and he could impose a lesser sentence, such as probation, home confinement, community service or a fine.

Any sentence, of course, will be complicated by the fact that Trump is set to take office on January 20, 2025. Trump’s lawyers are likely to shape their appeals to raise constitutional issues challenging whether a state judge can sentence a president-elect, which could tie the case up in courts for years.

Since it is a state case, Trump does not have the power to pardon himself next year after he is sworn into office. 

Is Trump above the law? Will he get to serve his time in jail? It is a state court so he cannot grant himself a pardon.

ABC New wrote…

"The public's confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion," Merchan wrote in his ruling Friday. "The members of this jury served diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election."

[…]

Merchan's opinion noted that any conflict was of Trump's own making as the former president repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings.

"Notably, had Defendant been sentenced on July 11, 2024, as originally scheduled, there would of course have been no cause for delay," the judge wrote.

We never before had an incumbent president up for sentencing before, this happened before the he was president so it was before he had presidential immunity.

And let us not forget that there are more cases pending, how will they be affected by his incumbency? Will Trump be serving his presidency behind bars with Vance as the President?

"Ne permittas bastardus te deprimere"